


Days gone by

by Toshaka



Category: Trails in the Sky, 英雄伝説VI 空の軌跡 | The Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki (Video Games)
Genre: Ash is just mentonied in one word, F/M, Other, basically fluff till the angsty end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:44:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toshaka/pseuds/Toshaka
Summary: Those days were of happiness, the three of them and a little village.She thought it will go forever like that. It was her wish, she wanted to be with them forever, where she can protect her little brother and enjoy company of her beloved.





	Days gone by

Karin Astray is six when she gets harmonica on her birthday. It’s new and shiny and sound that it makes is imperfect, but the little girl knows that with some practice she will get there. Later that day her mother teaches her “Whereabouts of Light”. It becomes her favourite melody.  
She has the best friend, Loewe. Well he is her only friend as they are the only kids in Hamel village, but still, he Is her best friend. He is one year older and has a lot of energy to spare. He mostly wants to play using sticks as swords and fights in imagined fights, but Karin is a girl and doesn’t hold much interest in it. Instead she plays with him game of tag and hide and seek. In the latter she wins of most of time she is quieter than him, smaller and knows better places to hide than behind logs of wood used for repairs. It’s lame place. This doesn’t mean that Loewe is stupid, because he isn’t, but she is just smarter. From time to time her friend trains alone, using stick as a sword. These times she watches him in awe. While he is seven, he looks cool and amazingly strong in her eyes swinging that stick, fighting enemies that aren’t there.  
  
He also loves when she plays her harmonica. When she did it for first time he looked at her with sparkling eyes, like he saw one of Bracers he loves talking so much. Since that day they developed a routine. They play and rest and go home to eat. Then he trains and she watches him and after training while he is resting she plays for him. Those were simple, blissful days full of peace and happiness. She was content with her life.  
She is nine years when her younger brother is born. Joshua is small and screams a lot and he is red like tomato, but when Karin sees him for the first time in their mother arms, she knows she loves her baby brother with all her being. She looks at him and vows in her heart to protect him no matter what.  
When she is thirteen she notices how handsome Loewe is. And she couldn’t believe that she didn’t notice it before, they grew up together after all, and she just sees it. She realizes that evening that she suddenly developed crush on him, _or it wasn’t suddenly but she just was so dense that she couldn’t see it and she thought she was smart one._  
  
The worst part in developing crush with best friend who is also the other kid in whole village is the fact that you can’t avoid him _(there is Joshua but he is her brother and he is three and there is Johan, but he is barely one year old and she won’t count him as friend yet, until he grows up a little)._  
Loewe catches on quick that something is off about her and one thing leads to another and somehow they become couple. When she looks back on it, it was sort of obvious they would end together. They were nearly the same age, they grew up together and really understood each other. She thought things would change. But it didn’t happen Loewe still trains, this time he has wooden sword, and Karin plays her harmonica. From time to time they kiss in the shade of a tree when they felt the moment of affection between them. And at some point in their little blissful time Joshua joined them. The two became three.  
Her younger brother is three years old and really sweet kid. Nice and polite and energetic. They need to watch him as he runs around, so he won’t injure himself by accident. At beginning Karin was afraid that Loewe wouldn’t like him, but it was unnecessary. He immediately liked Joshua and it was the same on the other side. They caught the same wavelength despite gap of ten years. Was it because they were both boys? Or because they both loved her? Karin didn’t know, but still was glad. They were both important to her.  
  
She once tried to teach them both to play harmonica. It turned out that Loewe was no good and that talent was running into Astray family as Joshua quickly got hang of it. Karin giggled when she saw Loewe pout and Joshua proud face.  
Now they spend their days in a little different routine. Loewe trains less and instead plays with Joshua and Karin joins them. After games they sit on grass and laugh, and after Karin takes her harmonica and both boys listen to her while she plays. The song is carried through whole village and some of villagers stop and listen for a while when she plays. At first she was embarrassed when her neighbour complimented her on her play, but soon enough she got used to it.  
  
The winter when she was fourteen was the worst in decade and her parents don’t know what to do with Christmas. So she goes to them and in steady voice tell them not to buy anything for her, but instead give something warm to Joshua so he won’t get sick. At beginning they looked unsure what to do, but when she insisted, they gave in and got her baby brother nice coat. And with it she was happy. As long as he was safe, she was okay. The surprise came when Loewe gave her nice looking shawl and scarf for Joshua, while she didn’t have anything prepared for him. Embarrassed he tells her that he earned it by helping villagers with removing snow from roads, when she and her family were preparing rations in case of emergency. She finds herself hugging him tightly with tears of joy in her eyes. She was so happy that she wanted to smother him in kisses, but barely stopped herself and settled with hug. That night she thanks Aidios for sending Loewe to her side.  
  
Somehow they survive that winter without problem and she is glad. They can spend another year together without worry.  
But she still worries. Especially when she hears that Loewe wants to become Bracer. She knew that her other half admired them, their freedom and how they were saving people, but till now she didn’t think he would want to become one of them. She believed that he would stay with them here and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hamel. But at the same time she understand. Loewe existence, his ambition is too big for this little village. And when he tells her that someday the three of them would be together again, when he earns enough, she can’t say no. Ultimately she supports his dream.  
  
That spring Mrs. Emily asks them from time to time look after Johan. He is two years old and while Karin doesn’t really want to take care of him, she also can’t exactly refuse. After all one year their family helped them with repair of leaking roof and she felt indebted to them since that time, so she agrees. It’s not like she doesn’t like Johan, because she likes the boy. He is sweet, smiles a lot and is really polite for a boy for his age, but…but she would prefer to spend time with just Loewe and Joshua. Karin knew that that was selfish of her, but she couldn’t help herself. Still she was really nice towards Johan and Joshua really took liking to boy and couldn’t wait as he grows up and they would play together. That put smile on her face, as everything related to Joshua. Loewe once addressed to it. That she is too selfless and nice when Joshua comes into picture, but she denied it saying that any Older Sister would put her younger brother before herself. He told her that indeed, that older sibling would do that for younger but not to that degree. She didn’t argue back.  
  
After that, late at night when everyone in her family were asleep she started to think about these words. Was it really that bad to put her brother needs before everything else she needs? It’s not like she wasn’t strict with him. She was scolding him when he was doing something bad and made sure that he was polite to elders. So for her answers was one. No. It wasn’t wrong. The day he was born she vowed to protect him no matter what.  
  
Loewe is sixteen, Karin is fifteen and Joshua is six when Hamel burns with flames that begin a war. They run for their lives and enemies go after them. For jaegers the villagers aren’t people, they are prey, prey to be hunted. No one shall survive.  
Her beloved becomes bait so she and her brother could live and when they run she sees poor little Johan on ground and she thinks that he won’t be able to play with Joshua anymore. She mourns him and his family and all people who are either dead or dying burned in houses, shoot by jaegers or suffering the worse fate than death.  
They are prey and one lone hunter catches them. Karin knows she can’t win, she is just a simple woman which never wielded a weapon, she doesn’t fight when he attacks her. Instead she shouts to Joshua to run. He doesn’t listen. 

When she lies in Loewe arms, with horrifying wound on her back, dying, she is at peace.  
_“Joshua…here….”_ She gives him her harmonica.  
_“Loewe, please, take ….care of him….”_

She closes her eyes. Everything will be alright. They both are stron, they will survive.  
Karin is glad, she kept her vow and protected her borther. And so as she dies she smiles happily from the bottom of her heart.


End file.
